Skirt-guard



(No Model.)

0. E. MILLER.

. SKIRT GUARD. No. 600,010. V Patented Mar. 1,1898.

ATTORNEYS.

' UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

CAROLINE E. MILLER, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

SKIRT-GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,010, dated March 1, 1898.

Application filed $eptemher 30, 1896- Serial No. 607,446. (No model.)

To all whom it mayconcern:

Be it known that I, CAROLINE E. MILLER, of Minneapolis, in the county of I-Iennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and Improved Skirt-Guard, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a device designed to be arranged upon a bicycle to protect the skirt of a female rider from the wind, which is liable in ordinary cases to disengage the skirt and also to impede progress.

The device as here shown is arranged particularly for attachment to a Columbia bicycle; but it is to be understood that I do not confine my invention thereto, as it is obvious that by slight changes in form it may be applied to any bicycle having a drop-frame.

I will describe the skirt-guard embodied in my invention, and then point outthe novel features in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,

in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a vertical sect-ion through the line 1 1 of Fig. 2 of a device embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a front View thereof, and Fig. 3 is a rear view thereof.

The device comprises a plate 1 of suitable material-such, for instance, as aluminium or similar metal in which lightness is secured.

I This plate 1 is curved from its central portion rearward at its opposite sides, and its upper and lower edges are connected to a wire frame 2, which, as here shown, extends laterally a suitable distance beyond the edges of the plate, forming wings for the support of a cover, as will be hereinafter described. These wing portions of the frame are also curved rearward.

A clip 3, removably attached to the upper portion of the plate 1 at its front side, serves to secure the upper portionof the said plate to the brace-tube at of a bicycle. This clip 3 may be secured to the plate 1 by means ofscrews.

(Plainly indicated in Fig. 2.) Arranged below the clip 3 is another clip 5, also designed to engage around the brace 4 of a bicycle-frame, and this clip 5 may also be secured to the plate 1 by means of screws. The central portion of the plate 1 is cut away, as

7and 8.

at 6, so as to'engage over the brace 1 of the frame.

Secured to the plate 1 and also to the wire frame 2 is a cover consisting of two sections The sections 7 and 8 meet at their central portion, and one section, here shown as section 7, is provided with a flap 9, designed to lap over the lower portion of the section 8 and to be secured thereto by means of buttons 10 or otherwise, and thus make a practically continuous cover.

Each section 7 and S at its upper edge is turned over the upper edge of the plate 1 and over the upper portion of the frame formed by the wire 2 and is secured by buttons 11 on the body portionof the section and passes through buttonholes in the turned-over portions. The side edges of the said sections may be also turned over the end portions of the frame formed by the wire 2 and buttoned in the same manner. The sections 7 and 8 are provided with an opening 12, through which the portion 13 of the drop-frame may pass, as it will be seen that connection is made between the sections 7 and 8 below said portion 13 of the drop-frame. The side edges of the sections 7 and 8, it will be seen, are arranged at a downward and outward inclination, so that the bottom portion of the guard is considerably broader than the upper portion.

To the front side of one section is attached one edge of a flap 15, and the other edge of the said flap is lapped over the other section of the cover and secured thereto by means of buttons 16. This flap 15 will of course be provided with suitable openings for the passage of the clips 3 and 5 and also for the passage of the portion 13 of the bicycle-frame.

The portions oft-he sections 7 and 8 below the frame 2 will of course hang loosely, and it may at times be necessary to secure them against the influence of a back wind. For this purpose I provide the lower corner of each section with a device for fastening the same to the frame 2. As here shown, this fastening device consists of a ring 14, adapted to engage with a hook 14 on the wire frame 2 near the edge of the plate 1, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3.- Of course these folded edges may be let down at any time by the rider without dismounting by simply releasing the ring 14 from the wire frame 2.

I have shown and described the sections 7 and 8 detachable from the parts 1 and 2, but it is to be understood that I do not confine my invention thereto, as it is obvious that they may be rigidly attached to said parts.

The cover, consisting of the sections 7 and 8, may be made of any suitable light material-such, for instance, as rubber-gauze or other fabric substantially impervious to the wind.

By employing the plate 1 and extending it laterally from the bicycle-frame comparathereof and curved rearward, and acover of flexible material removably attached to said plate and frame, substantially as described.

2. A dress-guard for use with a bicycle, comprising a metal plate adapted for connection with a portion of a bicycle-frame, a wire connected to the upper and lower edges of the said plate and having portions extended laterally of the plate and a cover consisting of two sections removably attached to the wire and plate and detachably connected at their lower meeting portions, substantially as described. 4

3. A dress-guard fora bicycle, comprisinga wire frame, means for securing the wire frame to the front brace of a bicycle-frame, the said wire frame being extended laterally at'each side of the bicycle-frame, and a cover for the wire frame consisting of two sections, one of said sections having a flap below the frame, at the center, and designed to lap over the adjacent portion of the other section and button thereto, substantially as specified.

4. A dress-guard for a bicycle, comprisinga wire frame adapted to be secured to the front brace of a bicycle-frame and extend laterally at each side thereof, a cover on the wire frame consisting of two sections, the lower portions of which hang free below the wire frame and are detachably connected together at their meeting edges below the wire frame, and means for detachably securing the lower outer corners of the cover to the lower porgion of the wire frame, substantially as speci- CAROLINE E. MILLER.

Witnesses:

G. JEANNETTE CARLETON, Mrs. W. O. CORBETT. 

